Third baseman Travis Shaw slugged the first two home runs of his major league career and had four RBIs as the Boston Red Sox overcame another shaky start from Joe Kelly in an 11-7 win over the Tampa...

Penacook man admits to soliciting sex from girl, 15

BRENTWOOD — A Penacook man admitted to charges that he solicited sex from a 15-year-old Portsmouth girl while exchanging text messages with her over the course of several months last year.

Brad Lizotte, 47, formerly of Concord, pleaded guilty to three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and a single count of obscene matters in Rockingham County Superior Court for exchanging sexually explicit text messages with the girl between June 12 and Sept. 29, 2012.

Portsmouth police began investigating the case after the girl’s mother discovered the messages, prosecutors said.

The mother told police that her daughter and Lizotte shared sexually explicit photos and text messages, according to prosecutors.

Portsmouth police executed a search warrant on Lizotte’s home in Concord on Oct. 18.

Portsmouth police detectives Rebecca Hester and Kristyn Berneir interviewed Lizotte about his phone, how he used his computer, his relationship with the victim and pornographic references he made while conversing with the girl.

Plea deal

The plea was struck after Lizotte lost a bid to have statements he made to police thrown out of court.

Lizotte had argued that statements he made to two Portsmouth police detectives should have been deemed inadmissible because police failed to read him his Miranda rights.

Defense lawyer Jared Bedrick argued in court papers that police had set up a situation in which Lizotte would feel pressured into submitting to questions being posed by the officers, while the search warrant was being executed.

Judge Marguerite Wageling disagreed, saying Lizotte expressed some concern over how long the interview was going to take.

Police told Lizotte that he did not need to be present while police executed a search warrant at his home. Lizotte made no effort to end the interview or leave his house for work, Wageling noted.

Lizotte is expected to be sentenced to 12 months in county jail on one count of endangering the welfare of a child. He will be eligible for work release if it’s approved by corrections officials.

He will receive a suspended prison sentence of 2½ to 5 years, according to terms of the plea deal.